Sometimes it is hard for us to show our soft side. Just recently, I was crying while singing. It was such a great feeling, not sadness but joy and letting go. This moment drew people closer to me because they saw me from the inside out.

The great black dramatists that influenced my writings are Douglas Turner Ward, Lorraine Hansberry, Langston Hughes, Ed Bullins, August Wilson, and Ron Milner. They were a part of the new black theater. They dissolved the boundaries between stage and life by telling us what it means to be black in America.

While riding on the train, I observed most people plugged in. Many people have tuned out and seldom personally communicate with others. What a peaceful sentiment to tune in to the sounds of nature and life.

I visited the Berlin Wall before it was demolished. The museum Checkpoint Charlie had a section on our Civil Rights Movement, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a sermon there. He stated: “Whether it be East or West, men or women search for meaning, hope for fulfillment, yearn for faith in something beyond themselves, and cry desperately for love and community to support them in this pilgrim journey.”